Monday, July 20, 2015

OUR FIRST WEEK WITH LOGAN

It's been a little over a week (10 days, to be exact) and it's been...pretty blissful, believe it or not. The bliss mostly comes from being smitten with this new baby, being surrounded by family and having renewed appreciation for Ken and Sloane. I'm appreciating every drop of newborn smell, savoring the tiny fingers and toes, and noticing how she changes from one day to the next. The first few days back from the hospital consisted of almost no sleep (first night back: 1 total hour of sleep, second night back: 2 total hours of sleep) but once my milk came in, and she started sleeping longer between feedings, we found ourselves in a rhythm that feels doable. I'm sleepy and happy.

The wild thing is that she reminds me so much of Sloane - from the way she looks to how she nurses and sleeps - so I feel like I'm getting a chance to do something that I thought was long gone, all over again.

It's been wonderful to have family here; my sister was here for the weekend and my mom has been here with us since the baby. Thank goodness for mothers, their wisdom and how just their presence makes life feel easier.

It's almost as if I didn't realize how big Sloane was until I saw them together. I look back and forth from one to the other and it's still hard to believe - really, that baby becomes that little girl??

It's a good day when we all get to nap.

I resolved to take daily walks around our neighborhood and I find myself looking forward to this time each day. My mom has been walking with me, and sometimes Sloane or Ken, and I love being able to move around and get a little sweaty. The recovery for this one has been much faster than with the first, so I'm already feeling anxious to start working out but I'm reminding myself that I should take it easy....

Sloane is at home with Ken for these weeks (because his work offers great paternity leave) and he's been keeping Sloane busy with an outing every day. He has been wonderful with her and I know that this time they are spending together is such valuable time for both of them.

We've been eating more Korean food around here since my mom has been cooking for us. There is also more Korean being spoken around here and I'm hoping Sloane gets influenced even if in small increments. Here is Sloane making kimbap with my mom for lunch one day.

I'm making sure to also take time to really enjoy Sloane right now. She amazes me constantly with her vocabulary, questions and ideas, and I want to make sure to always let her know how special she is. Her thing this week is choreographing dances that she instructs me through. She has been really into ballerinas recently, and her dedication to these 'ballerina' dances are impressive...and hilarious.

Just as we expected and hoped, Sloane has taken to her role as a big sister extremely well. I'm still watching out for any jealousy issues, but so far, it's all love for baby sister and she seems to understand all the time it takes to care for a newborn. Sloane asks to hold and take care of the baby every day, talks to her, wants to show her toys, and is eager to help in any way.

After just one week, I already have so many (too many??) photos of these two on my phone. But I mean, come on, look at them! I can't help myself....

The transition into a family of four feels natural - maybe because it felt like we waited so long for her to come ! - but like everyone says, the new addition seems to just give us more reasons to love each other as a family. I get to see Sloane in a new light as a sister, and to observe Ken again as a new dad, and now as a dad of two girls, which is going to be pretty dang amazing... I can already tell.

You guys, I'm a mom ...of daughters! I don't think I'll get tired of saying that. I love these girls so much and I'm looking forward to more adventures with the two of them.